The increased financial flexibility created by the sale of
Cermaq shares, the termination of the transaction and strong
salmon prices are “likely to lead to a reintroduction of a
quarterly dividend” from the second quarter, the Oslo-based
company said in a statement today.

Marine Harvest, controlled by billionaire John Fredriksen,
ended its approach for Cermaq on June 21 after failing to get
the 33.4 percent stake it was seeking. The Norwegian government,
which already owned 43.5 percent of the feed maker, has since
increased its shareholding to 59.2 percent.

The Norwegian salmon producer, which has now sold all of
its shares in Cermaq, will focus its resources on developing its
greenfield feed capacity in Norway, expanding its farming
operations at home and in Chile, and integrating smoked salmon
producer Morpol ASA (MORPOL) into its business, it said.

Shares in Marine Harvest gained as much as 1 percent and
traded 0.7 percent higher at 5.9 kroner as of 10:30 a.m. in
Oslo. That extends the stock’s gain to almost 60 percent during
the last 12 months and gives the company a market value of 22.1
billion kroner ($3.6 billion.)